


Say It Again

by apostapals (apostapal)



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M, Gender-Neutral Hawke, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-08-18 04:10:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8148706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apostapal/pseuds/apostapals
Summary: the way you said “i love you”; over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble





	

Fenris wakes with Hawke in his arms for the first time in months. It feels like the first time ever, all over again. He buries his face against their neck, hands tracing every inch of them he can reach, and breaths in deeply.

“I love you.” he says, lips brushing their skin, “ _Maker, I love you._ ”

For so long, he was used to being alone. Content with it, even. It took Hawke being there, then not, to make him realize how miserable it felt to wake in an empty bed.

Hawke shifts, laughing sleepily, and coils their arms around his waist.

“I love you.” he says again and presses his lips to their jawline.

He could say it a million times, in every language there is, and it would not feel like enough. They shivered when they spoke of Adamant and the Nightmare in the Fade. He nearly lost them.

He’d almost lost them before, when the words still stuck to the back of his throat. He swore they’d know from then on.

“ _I love you, I love you, I love you._ ”

He punctuates each one with a kiss, voice hoarse and raw. Hawke smiles, fingers dancing up and down his spine now, and just listens. Just bathes in the attention.

He could speak nothing else for as long as he lives. He could scream it till his throat bled or repeat it until he had no voice at all. It would never lose meaning. And it would never amount to half of what he feels.

“I love you.”

He whispers in their ear, combs their hair with his fingers. Either of them could die at any moment. Life has an unpredictability Fenris has learned not to trust. So Hawke has to hear it.

“I love you.”

He growls when Hawke’s lips brush his ear. He feels them smile against his skin.

Hawke taught him how to love again. Before he even knew what it was. It was terrifying and amazing. It _hurt_. It still hurts but in a way he finds he enjoys.

“I love you too.” they mumble into his shoulder. He feels the heat of their breath sink into his skin and imagines it is the words themselves.

Hawke is the first thing he remembers ever loving. He knows, now, that he had family–loved ones he gave so much for. But the memories of Leto are so overshadowed by the memories of Fenris that they blur and get confused. But he remembers loving Hawke. He remembers being afraid to. And he remembers doing it anyway.

“ _I love you._ ”

He goes on and on, words falling over each other till all Hawke can make out is the word _‘love’_ over and over. Fenris’ kisses move from their mouth to neck to shoulder to chest, then to the scars on their stomach and back up. He stops when he reaches their mouth again and breaths the words into them with another kiss.

Fenris says this for no one else’s ears. They are for Hawke. Only Hawke. But he could spend a lifetime saying it for them.

They break from the kiss and Fenris buries his face against their neck again. He could stay there forever. Would, if it were possible.

“I missed you.” Hawke says.

They raise their hand to tease at his sleep-mussed hair. He breaths their scent. Just to remind himself that Hawke is warm and real, and in his arms.

To say he missed them too feels like an understatement. They know this as much as he knows it.

“I love you.” he says. His voice cracks, even in a whisper, and it comes out even softer than intended.

“What was that?” Hawke asks, smile tugging the corners of their mouth, “I didn’t catch that one.”

Fenris laughs, clears his throat roughly, and says, “You know.”

They do, it’s obvious in the way they repeat it back to him.

“I love you.” they reply. And everything is right again.


End file.
